Violet Baudelaire

Violet Baudelaire
Biographical Information
Alias	Laura V. Bleediotie Sally Beverly The Two-Headed Freak Concierge Veronica
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Height	173cm
Hair	Black (books) & Brown (movie)
Eye	Brown
Skin	White
Relationships
Family Members	Bertrand Baudelaire (father) (died) Beatrice Baudelaire (mother) (died) Klaus Baudelaire (brother) Sunny Baudelaire (sister)
Love Interests	Quigley Quagmire
Affiliation
Profession	Inventor
Loyalty	V.F.D.

Violet Baudelaire is the eldest of the three Baudelaire orphans. She is an inventor whose skills have saved her and her siblings countless times. She has a younger brother, Klaus, and a baby sister, Sunny. She usually ties her hair up with a hair ribbon to keep it our of her eyes when thinking of an invention. This sets the gear inside her head working at full force.

Violet is fourteen at the beginning of the series, turns fifteen in The Grim Grotto, and is sixteen by the end of the series. By eighteen, she would have inherited the Baudelaire fortune. 

Biography

Violet Baudelaire is possibly the greatest inventor of her time. When Violet was five years old, she won her first invention contest with an automatic rolling pin, which she made using a window shade and six pairs of roller skates. The judge commented that Violet could invent something with both her hands tied behind her back. Prior to the demise of her parents, she liked to visit the Verne Invention Museum and its many exhibits, including one of the mechanical demonstrations that inspired her to be an inventor when she was just two years old.

Violet once invented a device to soothe her sister's teething pains.

The Bad Beginning

Violet was at Briny Beach, trying to invent a way to retrieve rocks after they have been skipped. Mr. Poe approaches the orphans, and sadly tells them that their parents have perished (died) in an enormous fire that destroyed their entire home. This fire is believed to have been started by Count Olaf or another person on his side of the schism. Violet and her siblings are taken to Mr. Poe's house, where Mr. Poe lives with his wife and two children, Edgar and Albert, before being taken to Olaf's house. Violet and the other orphans are forced to do housework for the greedy and filthy Count while he waits to take over the Baudelaire fortune that their parents left behind. After realizing that the Baudelaire fortune will not come into his filthy hand for another few years, Olaf hatches a plan that involves him legally marrying Violet and convincing the audience that it is just a play.

Ensuring that Violet would agree to the arrangement, Sunny was hung in a birdcage from the tower. If Violet or Klaus did anything to disrupt the play, Sunny would be dropped and would surely not survive the fall. But Violet managed to make a grappling hook out of drapes and curtain rods. She managed to hook her invention to the tower room and climb up to Sunny. But unfortunately, an associate of Count Olaf was waiting. By the time of the play, they could think of nothing to stop the evil Count. But in the nick of time, Violet signs the marriage contract with her left hand. Being right-handed, the signature was not in her own hand and therefore invalid. Olaf tried to fix this mistake, but Sunny was released from the birdcage by the time Violet told him. Unfortunately, Count Olaf and his henchpeople escaped in a black automobile.

The Reptile Room

Violet and her siblings were then moved to the house of herpetologist Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, where a large amount of reptiles and snakes were kept. Since they were leaving for Peru in 10 days, they needed to prepare for the trip. Violet enjoyed fixing the cages in which the snakes would be transported. But when Uncle Monty's new assistant Stephano arrived, the orphans saw that it is Count Olaf in disguise. Uncle Monty though, doesn't believe them. The next day he is found dead. Two bite marks are found on his cheek, and the venom of the Mambu du Mal are in his veins. Violet invents a lockpick from a plug outlet then goes through "Stephano"'s suitcase and finds evidence that he killed Uncle Monty. Count Olaf then fled with his associate the hook-handed man disguised as a doctor.

The Wide Window

Violet from The Wide Window cover.

The Baudelaires were sent to their next guardian, Aunt Josephine Anwhistle, a lady having many irrational fears, living near Lake Lachrymose. This time Count Olaf disguises himself as Captain Sham, with an eyepatch, a beard, and a wooden peg leg which Sunny bites at the end of the book to reveal Count Olaf. Violet invents a signalling device which is very successful, although unfortunately Count Olaf is the person who responds to the signal. In this book, it is revealed that the three Baudelaire Children are allergic to peppermint.

The Miserable Mill

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are sent to live in the Lucky Smells Lumbermill where they are forced to work. At Sir's Lumbermill, Violet did not invent anything but took up as Klaus's researcher while he is hypnotized throughout the story. In the middle of the book, Klaus breaks his glasses and has to go to Dr. Orwell and get them fixed. Violet and Sunny are worried about him, he does not return until after the girls have gone to bed. They realize Klaus has been hypnotized and Dr. Orwell is evil. After she hypnotizes Klaus for a second time Sunny battles her using her four sharp teeth, and Violet luckily saves Charles from being sawed in half (but Dr. Orwell is thrown into the dangerously sharp knife and dies. She is gone forever). Olaf's next disguise is Shirley, the receptionist of Dr. Orwell.

The Austere Academy

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny meet Duncan and Isadora Quagmire at Prufrock Preparatory School, and the Baudelaires become very close to the Quagmires. In the tenth book, The Slippery Slope, Violet meets Quigley Quagmire, and they form a strong relationship. What will become of these relationships is still unknown, as Duncan and Quigley both disappeared into the "Great Unknown." Count Olaf disguises himself as a gym teacher named Coach Genghis. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny have to run laps (Sunny crawls laps for she's a baby) to tire them out so they will fail out of school and Olaf will be able to take them in.

One night, the Quagmire triplets took the Baudelaire orphans' place in disguise, allowing Violet and her siblings could continue studying for their exams. Violet invented a staple-making device so that Sunny could make the staples she needed to pass her secretarial test. Duncan and Isadora were not so lucky, and were kidnapped by Olaf, only able to shout one last thing to the Baudelaires: "V.F.D." Violet, Klaus and Sunny vowed to rescue the Quagmires.

The Erstaz Elevator

Violet sliding down the stair rail in The Ersatz Elevator.

Violet and her siblings were adopted by Jerome and Esmé Squalor. Olaf came disguised as an auctioneer named Gunther this time, and the Baudelaires were able to locate where he was hiding right under their noses. This hideout was a secretly empty elevator shaft in the Squalors' apartment building. Violet invented a makeshift rope to climb down the shaft, where the orphans found Duncan and Isadora, trapped in a cage. Violet was able to invent welding torches so as to free the Quagmires, but when the Baudelaires returned to the cage, it was empty. Later, Violet, Klaus and Sunny were thrown down the shaft by Esmé, who was in cahoots with Olaf. Sunny saved them all, and the three discovered a secret passageway that led to the ashen remains of the Baudelaire mansion. Eventually, the Baudelaires made it to Veblen Hall, where Klaus had learned the Quagmires were to be auctioned off by "Gunther". The orphans bid on the wrong lot, however, and the Quagmires were carried away again. Instead of staying with Jerome, the Baudelaires decided to hunt down Duncan and Isadora.

The Vile Village

Following the clue of V.F.D., Violet and her siblings decided to be adopted by the Village of Fowl Devotees, specifically a caring but skittish villager named Hector. Hector had a inventing studio and a library (in the barn right next to his house)which seemed to be very comfortable for the Baudelaires. There, the Baudelaires received coded poems from Isadora, via the migrating crows that lived in the village. Meanwhile, the villagers thought they had caught Olaf at last, but only Violet, Klaus and Sunny knew that this man was not Olaf at all. The Baudelaires tried to rescue the man, whose name was Jacques Snicket , from being burned at the stake, but were accused of the later murder of Jacques by none other than the real Count Olaf disguised as a Detective Dupin. All three Baudelaires were jailed by the village. In the nick of time, though, Violet invented a water pump to dissolve the mortar of the jail cell’s brick walls, which then served as a handy battering ram. After escaping, the Baudelaires rescued Duncan and Isadora from within a fountain, using clues in the coded poems. While Duncan and Isadora escaped with Hector, Violet, Klaus and Sunny were separated from the Quagmires. Thanks to the Daily Punctilio, the news of what the Baudelaires were accused of spread quickly. Then, the Quagmires fled from the authorities using a hot air balloon Hector and Violet made.

The Hostile Hospital

While running away from the authorities after being framed for murder, Violet and her siblings arrive at the Last Chance General Store to send a telegram to Mr. Poe seeking help. However, he doesn't reply before the delivery of The Daily Punctilio forces the reported murderers to flee once more. Afterward, they were picked up by the Volunteers Fighting Disease. They arrived at Heimlich Hospital and obtained the thirteenth page of the Snicket File. Later, Esmé Squalor chased them for the file. Violet got caught when she is too big to escape up a chute.

From then, Violet went under the name of Laura V. Bleediotie, and taken by the two white-faced women who led them to the hook-handed man and the bald-headed man. They took her to the operating theater and begin the operation to receive an unwanted "Crainioectomy". However, this operation was stalled briefly by Klaus dicussing the history of the long knife. Hal accused the Baudelaire children of setting fire, but Esmé showed up with the real white-faced women and "exposes" them, revealing that she had set fire to the Library.

They hid in another closet and then diverted the crowd of escapees outside to the unfinished half of the hospital by acting like the intercom system and telling them that the Baudelaires have been spotted there. They jumped out of the building, and hide in the trunk of Olaf's car.

The Carnivorous Carnival

From where The Hostile Hospital left off, Sunny, Klaus, and Violet hide in the trunk of Count Olaf's car. They overhear the conversation going on between Olaf and his theater troupe. They disguised themselves as "freaks" (Violet and Klaus as a two-headed person named Beverly and Elliot, respectively, and Sunny as Chabo the Wolf Baby) and get jobs at Caligari Carnival. At the end of the book they pretend to decide to join Count Olaf, although since Olaf knows they are the Baudelaires, unhooks the caravan Violet and Klaus from the one with him and his other associates (and Sunny, who Olaf kidnaps to get the Baudelaire fortune, and thinks he killed Klaus and Violet).

The Slippery Slope

In the next book where The Carnivorous Carnival left off, Violet and Klaus begin their search for Sunny, who was kidnapped by Count Olaf in order to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune. In chapter three we find out that Sunny is crying her little eyes out and doing stupid chores assigned by Olaf. Klaus and Violet disguise themselves as Snow Scouts and meets Quigley Quagmire who was thought to be dead in the fire that killed his parents, who Violet develops a romantic attachment with, and learns more about V.F.D. Lemony Snicket decides to give them some privacy where it was possible; they took a break and, it has been presumed, kissed.

Violet, Quigley and Klaus hatch a plan to lure Esmé to them and use her to bait Olaf into giving Sunny back. They dig a pit and light a Verdant Flammable Device next to it. Esmé sees some green smoke at th

Violet in The Slippery Slope.

e bottom of the slope. She goes down it, thinking the smoke is coming from the "in" cigarettes. The children realize that two wrongs don't equal a right and that there is a better way to rescue Sunny than kidnapping Esmé. When she reaches the bottom, she runs into three masked strangers (the Baudelaires and Quigley), and they help her climb back up the slope, hoping to get Sunny as a reward for their efforts.

Claiming to be Volunteers, Violet, Klaus and Quigley demand Sunny's return. Olaf refuses, until Violet pretends to know the location of a missing sugar bowl (of unknown importance) from Esmé's tea set. Olaf barters for the dish, but the Snow Scouts reach the peak. Klaus, Violet, and Quigley take off their masks to convince the scouts to run. Olaf orders the two white faced women to grab Sunny and throw her off the mountain, but they leave, quitting the troupe. As they leave, they tell Olaf that one of their siblings was killed when their house burned down. The scouts, except Carmelita, the freaks and the hook-handed man are captured in a net, and carried off by eagles. Carmelita is convinced to join Olaf and Esmé in their evil schemes. The Baudelaires and Quigley grab a toboggan and slide down the slope, but when they reach the bottom, the frozen waterfall shatters. In the ensuing flood, the Baudelaire siblings and Quigley Quagmire are separated. Quigley tries to tell them to meet him somewhere, but cannot be heard over the rush of the running water.

The Grim Grotto

Now lost in the water, the Baudelaires board the Queequeg, captained by Captain Widdershins, in the next book. In the beginning of the book, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny meet also Fiona, who has a romantic relationship with Klaus. Poor Sunny gets poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium but luckily Klaus and Violet rescue her in the nick of time by giving her wasabi which was used as an alternative for horseradish. Violet also has her 15th birthday in this book but never knows it, it probably occurs when Sunny first breathed in the Medusoid Mycelium. At the end, Klaus has his first kiss with Fiona before they say good-bye and she goes to join Count Olaf with her brother Fernald (who happens to be the hook-handed man). Violet, Klaus, and Sunny make it to shore and realize they're at Briny Beach, where they first received the bad news about the Baudelaire fire. They get a message from Quigley Quagmire, telling them to go to theHotel Denouement (continued in the next book). Mr. Poe finds them and tries to convince them to go with him. But they call for a taxi instead. The driver is Kit Snicket, the sister of Lemony and Jaques Snicket and she takes them away to the Hotel Denouement.

The Penultimate Peril

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny get in a taxi and as you know Kit Snicket is the driver and drives them to the Hotel Denouement, where the Baudelaires disguise themselves as concierges. They split up and meet familiar people they met in previous books. Later, when they try to stop Count Olaf from killing Dewey Denouement, the husband of Kit Snicket (possibly Kit Denouement) and the father of Kit's baby, Beatrice, the harpoon gun that they procure from Count Olaf slips from their grasp and it fires a harpoon, killing Dewey Denouement. They blame themselves for his death, even though it is not really their fault. At the end of the book they burn down the Hotel Denouement in order to send a message to cancel the V.F.D. gathering on Thursday of that week, and escape with Olaf in a boat which continues in the next and final book.

The End

Left off from the previous book, Klaus, Sunny, and Violet are stuck in a boat with Count Olaf. They eventually wash up on an island (which Olaf names Olaf-Land, although it isn't really called that) and meet a little girl named Friday Caliban. She takes the Baudelaires with her but abandons Count Olaf on the coastal shelf. A few days later, after thinking it's Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's fault the Medusoid Mycelium (which poisons Sunny and almost kills her in book #11) came, they abandon the three of them on the coastal shelf with Olaf. The Baudelaires sneak back onto the island and forget about Count Olaf. Count Olaf eventually follows them, and everyone sees them all. Ishmael, the faciltator, takes the harpoon gun away from Olaf. Olaf was before disguised as Kit Snicket who is pregnant and put the helmet (formerly Sunny's in book #11) which contains the poisonous mushrooms, as his false baby. Ishmael fires the harpoon gun at Olaf's "belly" and everyone except Ishmael himself gets poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium. Violet and Klaus think of a plan while Sunny looks around to help her siblings think of one. All three of them know why there are bitter apples on the apple tree...they contain horseradish! They each take a bite of an apple and try to get all the islanders to eat them. Unfortunately, the islanders are almost out of sight in a boat! At the end of the book, Kit Snicket's baby is born and the Baudelaires name her Beatrice after their late mother. Kit and Count Olaf both die as they were both infected. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny bury them at the shores of the island and have adopted little Beatrice. At the end of the bonus mini-book Chapter 14, Violet, Klaus, Sunny, and Beatrice Baudelaire leave.

After The End

Though her ultimate fate is ambiguous, several sources state that something happened to The Beatrice - it sank on some sharp rocks when they were close to the mainline, though what made it hit the rocks is unknown - and Violet was forced to make an "emergency repair" to it, which allowed the ship to land, successfully, on the mainland, allowing all three siblings and Beatrice to survive: Violet is stated as returning to Briny Beach for "a third time" and, Beatrice states that that Violet survived, at least as far as Briny Beach, while Sunny is known to discuss her cooking recipes on the radio as a young woman and Klaus would spend a lot of time thinking about his present situation many years later in the Reptile Room.

However, it may be that the Beatrice, when it landed on shore, landed at Briny Beach - allowing Violet to return for "a third time" - and that she died soon after, letting the Baudelaire fortune and estate pass to Sunny or Klaus.

Inventions

Violet and her rope invention in The Ersatz Elevator.

While Klaus is the researcher, Sunny is the biter and the future chef, Violet is the inventor. The theme of children each having a particular skill that they are good at is also shown with other characters in the series. For example, with the Quagmire triplets, Isadora is a poet, Duncan is a journalist, and Quigley is a cartographer. The Baudelaires' volatile friend Fiona is a mycologist. Violet is depicted as being extremely skilled at inventing devices. She often invents devices to help herself and her siblings in dangerous situations, using only simple objects such as rubber bands and tin cans. Whenever Violet invents something, she ties her hair up with her ribbon to keep it out of her eyes.

Violet's inventions

• In The Bad Beginning, Violet makes a grappling hook, from metal rods and torn clothing.
• In The Reptile Room, she makes a lockpick, from two prongs from an electrical socket, a thumbtack, and some soap.
• In The Wide Window, she makes a signaling device, from a piece of cloth, fishing pole, a metal bucket, and a burning hairnet.
• In The Austere Academy, she makes a staple-making device, using a small crab, a potato, metal rods, creamed spinach, and a fork. She also makes a few pairs of "noisy shoes" by attaching pieces of metal to the soles of normal shoes.
• In The Ersatz Elevator, she makes rope out of extension cords, curtains, and neckties. She also makes welding torches, from heated fire tongs, which they then use as crowbars.
• In The Vile Village, she makes a mortar dissolving device of out some water, a loaf of bread and a wooden bench, which she then uses as a battering ram. She also assists Hector in constructing a Self-Sustaining Hot Air Mobile Home using various mechanical devices.
• In The Hostile Hospital, she makes a fake intercom system, using an empty soup can with a hole. She also makes an escape device, from rubber bands.
• In The Carnivorous Carnival, she tries to make a cart as an escape vehicle, using vines, roller coaster parts and a piece of rubber.
• In The Slippery Slope, she makes a drag chute, using hammocks and a mixture of sticky condiments, and a brake, using a wooden table. She also makes climbing shoes using forks, fake fingernails, ukulele strings, and a candelabra.
• In The Penultimate Peril she makes a drag chute using dirty laundry sheets.
• In The End, Violet invents a water filter in order to make salt water drinkable. She also makes a sling for her and her siblings to use to carry baby Beatrice.
• In Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game), Violet invents various things, such as the Smasher, the Lobber, the Lockpick, the Sprayer, the Lever Yanker, the Reptile Retriever, the Brilliant Bopper (Klaus's weapon), the Fruit Flinger (her own weapon), the Baby Booster (which helps Sunny jump), the Steady Stilts (so that Violet can reach high places) and the Levitating Loafers (which can make Klaus fly).
• In The Dismal Dinner, Violet invents a very cold, very hard device made from a silver pie server and the ear of the snowman ice sculpture to lessen Sunny's pain from "teething" as soon as Sunny stopped looking out the window and sucked on it.

Disguises

The Baudelaire orphans were falsely accused of murder, and from this point on, they have no more guardians, and are on the run from the police. While running from the police, Violet assumed the following disguises:

• In The Hostile Hospital, Count Olaf disguises her as a patient so that he can conduct a fake operation and cut her head off. The name used in disguising her is an anagram, Laura V. Bleediotie.
• In The Carnivorous Carnival, Violet and Klaus dress as a two-headed freak. Her name used here was Beverly, and Klaus's is Elliot.
• In The Slippery Slope, Violet poses both as a Snow Scout and as a volunteer to save her little sister Sunny.
• In The Penultimate Peril, Violet disguises herself as a hotel concierge, same with Klaus and Sunny.

Known Crimes

Violet, despite being a volunteer, has committed crimes. She has broken out of jail (though she was wrongfully imprisoned). She aided in burning down Caligari Carnival. She burnt down the Hotel Denouement. She is also wanted for murder (though this is a false charge).

Behind the Scenes

• In the film adaptation she is played by Emily Browning.

Appearances

• The Dismal Dinner (Mentioned only)
• The Bad Beginning
• The Reptile Room
• The Wide Window
• The Miserable Mill
• The Austere Academy
• The Ersatz Elevator
• The Vile Village
• The Hostile Hospital
• The Carnivorous Carnival
• The Slippery Slope
• The Grim Grotto
• The Penultimate Peril
• The End
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game)

Trivia

• Her least favorite song is "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and she especially hates the line about life being but a dream.
• Her favorite inventor is Nikola Tesla.
• In the books her hair is black, but in the movie her hair is brown.

Gallery

Violet holding Sunny in the film adaptation

Violet as portrayed by Emily Browning in the film adaptation